A Vision for Transhumanism: an Interview with Rachel Haywire

“Human nature is to seek power; we’ve had that since the Stone Age. That’s just part of human behavior. But, as transhumanists, we seek to go beyond that kind of thing.”

Rachel Haywire is one of the most colorful figures in the transhumanist movement. She stands out aesthetically through her creative projects as an industrial musician, visual artist, and model. But she also sets herself apart through her political views, which are uniquely art-centric in a broader movement stereotyped by tech geeks and science nerds. In her recent run for president as an Independent, she championed an exotic blend of transhumanism, anarchism, and art-soaked libertarianism.

In preparation for my recent interview with her, I spent time trying to wrap my mind around terms like “psychic fascism,” “dark bohemia,” and “homo futura.” Rachel didn’t just coin innumerable terms of this sort; she also inserts them regularly into casual conversation. But poetics aside, she also cares deeply about universal basic income, free speech, and fighting the surveillance state.

I met Rachel at a loft in San Francisco’s SOMA district. After inviting me inside and offering me a vodka cocktail, she turned on her latest album “Alternative Technology”: an industrial rock album with prominent transhumanist themes. “I have really big ideas; I want you to check out my pitch deck,” she sings ironically on the second track, “Optimized.” We laughed about the irony just as we kicked off the interview, discussing her political views, art in politics, and many other “really big ideas.”

Peter Clarke: How does transhumanism fit in with modern American politics?

Rachel Haywire: We have people like Zoltan Istvan running for president. We have people like Andrew Yang advocating for transhumanist policies. And we have transhumanists looking to get more into government so they can influence policies around everything from artificial intelligence to bioengineering. Transhumanism is becoming a catch-all word to get people involved in government and to vote a certain way.